Short Minstrel Poems

Platinum minstrel
jewel-encrusted gemstone
sculptress, dawn usher...

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minstrel wind flows through
tree limbs quiver up and down~
gay leaves susurrate

4/21/2022...

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Halo of hallowed air
rising from six strings

walk over my bridge
minstrel minaret
magnified maple

ovate oak
viral wings
open in harpischords
playing archangelic 

a myriad

of elphins
dancing...

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fought back those sullen tears
brow to big
to get ahead of the plan
the wandering hand

in the brigade of man
a happy tune loosed in June
the pull of my heart
to light the spark

a mellow choice
to ask the world to rejoice...

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Virtue when expressive,
deafens bad intention

Its voice to live beyond,
excuses and retort

A minstrel plays a song unsung,
as sages rise to dance

All words rephrased in lyric tones
—the devil mute and gone

(Villanova Pennsylvania: October, 2019)...

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In the covert rendezvous of reality
My heart habs motionlessly.
Tranquilly, yet peace-less
In the very art of loneliness
I crave for a minstrel
Endowed with mastery of the timbrel
Cunningly curing the blisters of emotion
And poking my pox of dissatisfaction....

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Were you invited
into Zion
Or have a ticket
in advance
Have the doors
for you reopened
Is your history
fit to chant
The torches glow
in sequence
When you make your
entry plain
A hymn sung by
a minstrel Sage
Your welcoming
—refrain

(1st Book Of Prayers: November, 2023)
...

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black boned, minstrel faced
                leaves broken with ice,
                veined as a frosted puppet;

neither old nor new, but changed
                and leaving, the cold makes
                me stamp and circle in rage;

I can`t stand the weight, stand the weight......

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Music is the highest art,
eternity its host 

Time enraptured note by note,
transcendence dose by dose 

Calling out and drawing in,
beyond all paint and stone

The minstrel frees the poet’s words
—and drives the feelings home

(Listening To Bohemian Rhapsody: September, 2021)...

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~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the minstrel tells stories singing ballad after ballad
still he starves to death on keys and tones

the bard tells tale after epic tale
still he lies alone in an unmarked grave

the stars above shine brightly above
still indifferent to the origin stories
...

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Heard the news today 
     about Mr. Havens 
He left this mortal coil yesterday
    I remember his "Minstrel From Gault"well
I thrilled when I heard "Man came down from "Sinai Mountain" 
He was a terrific guitarist 
     with his own unique approach to the instrument 
"Gone from the Earth to a Better Land I Know"...

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I loved to play 'Cowboys and Indians'
    My favorite book was 'Little Fat Policeman'
  I really enjoyed a good minstrel show
    Desi Arnaz Jr's accent made my laughter grow

  Today I'd be a fat-shaming racist
    who culturally misappropriates to boot
  Back then I was just another 'normal kid'
    in his designer white-privilege suit...

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The marionette spun and danced to the sound
played by the weary and weathered banjo man. 
She staggered with jerky leap and stuttered bound 
that thrilled the children as only a doll can.
Her wish as she was thread about and around
was that she were real and her own moves could plan.
Sad were her eyes as she schemed and dreamed to know
the world outside this traveling minstrel show....

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Walk Like A Warrior
Talk Like A Knight
Battle Like A Gladiator
To Do What Is Right

Sing Like A Minstrel
Beat Like A Heart
Be Deep As A Well
Of Secrets Drawn – Apart

Rise Like The Sky
Play Like Youth
Take As The Eye
Seek As Truth

Write Like A Poet
Beam Like The Moon
Show It Like A Sunset
Offer It Like A Spoon

Watch Like A Guard
Warn Like A Sword
Praise As A Bard
And Love… Like ‘The Lord’...

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Fragile petals for your feet strewn across Earth’s lawn,
Miniscule sacrifices bleed from your minstrel pawn,
Would that nature’s silver starred celestial corridor,
Guide this pawn to Your supernatural golden shore,
Your milky galaxy draws me on this nightly walk,
Lifts me higher … pulls me .. To Thee my Rock..
Ahh beauty! It’s time to walk back to my house alone,
One day, I’ll keep on walking with You .. to my home....

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The words in the melody
  the words on the page

Related but different
  the Minstrel and Sage

The music recaptures
  what ink only starts

As harmony sings
  from an angelic heart

A phrase and a lyric
  as cousins relate

Too distant for brothers
  too close in their fate

One soul with two masters
  each fighting to gain

Your soul ever after
—your spirit to claim

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2018)...

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HAIKU STRAINS 4


Modern shoppes
Bayfront attractions;
Window shopping spree

~~~~~~~~~


Midnight nocturne
Window view moments;
Bedtime distraction

~~~~~~~~~


Music seeps
Through front door;
Passing minstrel vagabond

~~~~~~~~~


Easy escapade
Scented lemongrass;
Spa massage

~~~~~~~~~


Fond company
Old lovers sit quietly;
Calm charms crisp

~~~~~~~~~




Leon Enriquez
18 July 2015
Singapore...

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The days of May were wrapped around my finger.
Love settled in as though it meant to stay,
Exacting joy as if pressed through a wringer.
The days of May.

In June and July love went a bit astray,
Living as a strolling minstrel singer.
Gone was the sweet contentment of our May.

Then as the cold winter days would linger
Love sought the warmth of that sweet early day
Before it tried that reckless time as swinger.
The days of May....

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The eye wanders, warily, unfocused
Troubadours, lost, seeking poetic pen
Magical wand finding no hocus pocus
Minstrel, languishing, no verses to lend
Barbs squandered, set aside as precocious
Tragic? …No common, now take a new spin 
Through the mist of appreciated rhymes
Poetic stanzas now dare to cross lines
 
© Debra Squyres ( 8-20-14)


Written for:  Nette’s “Through the Mist” members contest
Using the form “ottava rima” for the first time....

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He carries the love of the generations,
A performer accomplishes that,
Chosen by God to sing beautiful songs,
A minister of song,
I love the hikes and mountain trails,
Picnics on the mountainside,
You love his manner with humans,
What a miracle and blessing from God,
He is a minstrel of the Lord,
Christmas reverent and holy,
Blessed by the pines and spruces,
The chalet warm and welcoming when the day is complete,

Author; Gwen von Erlach Schutz...

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caged mercilessly
                                gold-crested minstrel from hills...
                                       kept mimicking chants 


                           


                                       March 14, 2022
                                Bird Haiku Poetry Contest
                                  Sponsor: Tania Kitchin
                             Syllables checked by HMS.com
                                        SECOND PLACE...

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On these minstrel travels
sanity unravels
while squinting through arrays,
melting from the notion
that love shares brave potion
to set free souls ablaze.

Calliope dirges
punctuate these urges
with each body that drops
along this hallowed ground
on orders from those crowned
lords of enduring props.

Vanquished souls shall arise
to lift lies from the guise
righting flagrant error
since liberty calls out
to shred all sense of doubt:
candor is not terror....

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The season of the 
    seder 
is 
almost 
upon 
us 
We will be filled with joy 
when we imbibe 
the four cups of wine 
   The mighty Red Sea 
parted for Moses and the Israelites 
as they move forward 
with their plans 
The late, lamented 
Richie Havens 
sang of Sinai in his 
   "Minstrel from Gault"
This year we once more 
are thankful 
for the Passover meal 
   and yes , we will take joy in 
our delivery from forces which 
are intended to destroy us...

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The rapturous oceans roar
And shout their praise in gospel waves
That crash and smash
Against a cold and distant shore.

The mountains sigh and moan,
Lift suppliant arms, sing paeans and psalms
That rise then echo back
A hollow, mocking tone.

The forest trees may bow their heads
And bend their knees, but not to pray.
Instead, if you should ask them why,
They pay no heedless god tribute,
They're merely giving mute salute
To wand'ring minstrel breezes passing by....

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Chente—mi amigo, compadre, hermano
Troubadour of our pain untold
Minstrel of our abandoned souls
Keeper of our traditions bold

So loved by La Virgen de Guadalupe
That she took you on Her day
Now heaven’s honored balladeer
For Her now, you may play

You leave us with our sorrow
Our unconsolable despair
So, with a soft prayer on our lips
We plead—Volver!  Volver!
     Vicente Fernandez
     2/17/40-12/12/21

*Translation: my friend, companion, brother, return
1/12/22...

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